


Breaking in, breaking out

by DearDead



Series: Yeeted into space [1]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, First prompt : AU - General, Kalex Week, Kalex Week 2019, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-23 14:08:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21321439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearDead/pseuds/DearDead
Summary: What if Kara hadn't stopped the Exodus ship and Alex, along with hundreds of aliens, got sent into space ?Alex tries to find a way out of the planet they arrived at and Kara, on her end, doesn't lose hope that Alex is still alive and does everything she can to go look for her.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Lyra Strayd, Alex Danvers/Kara Danvers, James "Jimmy" Olsen & Kara Zor-El, Kara Danvers & J'onn J'onzz | Hank Henshaw, Kara Danvers & Winn Schott Jr.
Series: Yeeted into space [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1543342
Comments: 6
Kudos: 99
Collections: Kalex Appreciation Week 2019





	Breaking in, breaking out

**Author's Note:**

> I created it as a series so it's easier for the tags because of Kalex Week — and because I have this desperate need to be well organized.  
Second (and last) chapter will come out for the prompt number <strike>cough cough</strike>.

_ Her arms ache under the strain, skin burning against the red-hot glass, and her eyes sting as she tries to keep tears away. It’s not the time to have blurry vision, it’s time to put everything she has on the line and save everything she holds dear. _

_ A scream rips out of her throat without meaning to, her body shakes as she pushes herself like she never has before. What pushes her to go beyond, though, isn’t the fear of losing her; it’s the kindness and understanding in her eyes, the little nod that says, “It’s okay,” when it’s obviously not. _ _   
_ _ The pain she feels as she forces with all of her strength is nothing she ever felt; she did push herself on the field depending on the alien or technology she was fighting against, but never like this. Because, this time, it’s not only her life that depends on it — it’s the life of her everything. _

_ At last, at long last, she feels the unmovable force relenting, slowing down a little thanks to her efforts. She wants to take a break, at least long enough to send a quick smile but she doesn’t have time. She can’t stop now. So, she keeps pushing. _ _   
_ _ She keeps pushing and she feels she’s gaining ground on the worst enemy she ever fought. She’s ready to end this, ready to put an end to this vicious fight for the life of what she loves the most, and she feels her veins ready to pop out as she uses every last drop of energy she has. _

_ And then, everything stops. _

_ Her strength leaves her and, when she realizes it, her heart stops too. Everything stops moving. The world around her— around them stops and it feels like she doesn’t exist for a few long seconds. She can’t feel her muscles anymore, can’t feel her heartbeat or even her thoughts until… _ _   
_ _ A palm taps against the thick glass, bringing her back, and her cape flutters behind her as she blinks several times. Ever so slowly, she brings her own hand until it rests just inches away from the one she wants to hold the most. _

_ Realizing what she’s just done, where they are, her brain registers the fact that it’s actually a possibility now. _

_ She doesn’t waste time then, rushing to get inside the closest thing that ever came close to make her lose  _ everything.  _ As soon as she feels warmth on her skin, she meets the eyes that held so much kindness when she thought everything was doomed to fail and she can’t breathe. _ _   
_ _ She can’t breathe until she has her arms around the slender figure, can’t breathe until she,  _ finally,  _ can remember what her favorite scent smells like. And even when she starts to breathe again, it’s shaky and too quick. But that also gets fixed when she’s hugged back a second later, when she feels the light pressure she knows should be cracking her ribs if she were human.  _

_ And only then can she relax, only then she can finally say what she always wanted to say. _

_ “Alex, I—”  _

She feels cold, too cold. She’s sitting in her bed, her arms stretched out and fingers grabbing at nothing. It takes her a moment — a moment to understand. And when she does… 

She’s been so used to sob alone in her bed for so long, then used to be held while she cried. Eventually the tears stopped coming every night and were more rare. It’s hard to go back to the very beginning.   
Still, she tries to remember the times where arms would snake around her waist and rub her back as she shook under the covers, thinking about lost family and a dead world. The soft murmurs helped her then and, if she focuses enough, they still do. Even if she can’t remember the words exactly, the voice alone is enough to send her back to sleep until morning.

* * *

“So, whose butt do I get to kick today ?” Kara exclaims as she comes in the DEO, sending finger guns to close agents.

J’onn grunts as he watches the big screens in the hub with his arms crossed over his chest. “Supergirl,” he greets without looking her way. “Don’t you have the day off today ?”

The hero sprawls her upper body across the round DEO table with her chin on her hands. “Don’t need it.”

And it’s true. After blogging her warning on her personal website, Snapper had made the decision to get rid of one of her best journalists — not that he had a choice. So, now, all of her time is spent trying to find Alex, to find a way to get to her no matter what.

Sighing, the Martian turns to face her with a kind expression — Kara already flinches and she instinctively stands upright again, knowing what’s coming. “Kara,” he murmurs, “we’re doing—”

“Everything you can, yeah. I know.” She looks away, fists tight at her sides. “It’s not enough.” Over is her cheery mood and her easy-going attitude she adopted to try and keep her dread at bay — it didn’t work anyway, it just looked like it did. 

“Kara…”

“No !” she barks, eyes glowing and hands shaking. She takes a deep breath and the light in her eyes dims until the deep blue is back. Her hands are still shaking. “No. We owe her more than that.”

J’onn doesn’t have the time to open his mouth that she’s already gone. He sighs, rubbing his forehead without caring about the looks of his trusted agents near him. He knows they should do more, but they just can’t; he didn’t lie to Kara, they  _ are  _ doing everything they can.

Now that the door is locked behind her, Kara can take Alex’s lab coat in her hands as she slips on the ground with her back against the wall in her sister’s lab. Knees to her chest, she grips the cloth against her face and lets the tears fall.

* * *

“Where the hell are we ?”

It’s hot and Alex is already sweating. Next to her, Lyra is looking all around for a hint but comes up empty. “No idea.”

“I have to say—” Alex groans loudly then, just the sound of the voice already getting on her nerves, “— I  _ have  _ traveled my fair share before Earth and I do not recognize this planet.”

The DEO agent sharply turns around and points at him with her index of wrath. “We  _ know,  _ Irgto !” she snaps, already taking a threatening step toward him. “We have listened to you brag for  _ days  _ — if not weeks,” she seethes, her angry frame only held back by Lyra’s strong arms.

“Calm down, Alex,” she murmurs. “And I don’t think we’ve been trapped for weeks, it just felt like it because he wouldn’t shut his mouth.”

She’s sleep deprived, most likely dehydrated and hungry and Alex can’t take another of Irgto’s  _ facts.  _ “You shut it until I tell you, got it ?” she barks, her finger still pointed at him. When he only blinks at her, mouth agape, she fakes an angry step toward him and he cowers behind another alien — although they’re all aliens now. Satisfied by his reaction, she smirks and straightens up. “Good.”

“That was harsh,” Lyra says under her breath, and if she keeps a small distance at all times between them after that, it’s nothing but a coincidence. 

“He deserved it,” Alex grumbles as she walks, her steps long and fast; she doesn’t have a minute to waste — she has Kara to come back to. 

The spaceship landed somewhere deserted a few minutes ago and now Alex and a few of the others decided to go as scouts. The rest of the hundreds of aliens stayed behind in the ship to guard the children and their, possibly, only means to leave this place.

Worry starts to cripple up her spine, though, because they’re on a foreign planet and they don’t know what they’re going to find. Kara had shared her experience when she followed Veronica Sinclair’s slaves to Maaldoria and found herself powerless and almost eaten by the Maaldorian. For some reason, it stayed with since then.   
So she’s careful, looking all around them at every step, muscles taut and brain alert. She listens to everything, even to the feet of the dozens aliens following them. She’s a DEO agent, has trained for years and her determination and heart live for and lie in one person; Kara. For her, she’s ready for everything, for anyth— 

A scream echoes behind her and she swirls around, eyes wide and fists raised. There’s a commotion at the end of their small crowd and she runs; it’s most likely a fight between two aliens —  _ Irgto,  _ she bitterly thinks — but she does have to check.   
And she was right to; what appears to be guards are taking away everyone by force. Alex can see they’re trying to be non violent, arrest them without hurting anyone, but they chose the wrong people. Here are only aliens that were just kidnapped by the most vicious anti-alien organization on Earth and they aren’t about to be taken away  _ again.  _ So, of course they fight back.

Alex’s steps don’t falter and she jumps to gain momentum — and her elbow deliciously breaks one of the guard’s noses. His body goes limp and heavily falls on the ground.  _ One down…  _ She looks around, counting them,  _ fifteen to go. _

The fight is as fierce as Alex’s determination to go home to Kara; the guards give as good as they get and her fellow aliens hold their grounds pretty well — save for some innocent ones who’d rather hide their heads in the sand. Her ribs throb painfully, her knuckles burn and she’s pretty sure she has a concussion — but it’s not a reason to stop fighting.   
They’re good fighters but nothing she can’t handle; their skills are surprisingly good but they don’t have a lot of moves or the stamina required for the battlefield. Alex briefly thinks they had good training but no experience.

She sees stars, suddenly, when someone hits her hard in the back of the head with the butt of his baton. She catches herself with one step forward and turns with a glare; she doesn’t waste any time and swooshes her foot under him and makes him fall hard on his back. She kicks him in the head — they have helmets, he should be fine — and his protective headgear flies off to reveal long hair and feminine traits.

It’s certainly not the first woman Alex ever fought — or beaten — but she didn’t expect to see any on the battlefield here. Not that she doesn’t think women can’t fight because…  _ c’mon,  _ but it’s more rare than she’d like; the many aliens she encountered were, 90% of the time, males. She shakes the thoughts out of her head, it’s not the time to marvel at this species’ fairly advanced feminism.

“Alex !” someone cries, obviously for help, and the DEO agent automatically rushes toward the voice. She recognized it and, even though she might seem cold, she’s not  _ that  _ heartless.

She runs at full speed and violently crashes into someone with her shoulder. The soldier falls and drops the baton previously raised to hit, sliding into the dust. Alex is quick to kick the baton away from his hand and, although she’d rather not, drops her foot on his knee hard enough to incapacitate him.   
Screams echo in the open air and Alex offers her hand to the alien the guard was going to beat. Irgto accepts her help and shakily stands up, has to hold on to Alex’s forearm for stability. She dusts him off quickly and holds his shoulders.

“You okay ?”

He numbly nods and watches her go take care of another soldier; a quick choke hold and he’s down for the count. She almost gets hit by another guard but a fellow alien runs screaming and charges him before he can hurt Alex. The brunette smirks proudly and lets go of the limp guard in her arms.   
They were outnumbering them but they hadn’t counted on a trained agent in their midst. She might not have her weapons but she still has her fists and it’s more than enough to knock those weak soldiers out in a swift movement.

It’s mayhem and everybody’s screaming, everybody is hitting one another and there’s blood and broken bones everywhere. Sleep deprived and worried for something more than a bunch of aliens she doesn’t know, Alex can’t take it anymore.

“What do you want ?” she yells through the brouhaha but no one stops. A guard is on his knees with his hands raised in a gesture of surrender but one of the aliens has the soldier’s baton and ready to strike — and hard by the look of rage on his face. Alex gets there just in the nick of time and stops her movement with her forearm; she’s sure to have a bruise there later. “We’re not here to kill them,” she barks at her with a glare. The guard looks at her with gratefulness and relief and she rolls her eyes before mumbling, “Don’t take it to heart,” and punching him hard enough to make him lose consciousness. 

“Why did you stop me !” the alien cries, her face contorted in a livid grimace.

The agent forcefully takes the baton out of her hand and slaps the back of the alien’s head with her hand. “We’re in  _ their  _ territory, idiot ! Think of what you would have done in their place.” Her tone is cold and clipped but she doesn’t care; even if she knows the scared woman wouldn’t have acted that way if not kidnapped and sent away to her death.

She looks properly chastised and Alex leaves, ready to help the next one but turns around to realize every guard is down. Some are grunting in pain, some are just knocked out cold, some are bleeding and some almost don’t have a scratch on them — Alex can recognize the ones she took care of. 

She claps her hands loudly then puts them on her hips. “Good job everyone !” She doesn’t get an answer as everybody looks at each other — she must have taken down thirteen out of the fifteen. “Okay, and now… Answers,” she murmurs to herself as she looks around, trying to find one not too in pain and conscious. “You !” She points at a soldier who’s holding his head with a wince and she thinks she remembers hitting him earlier. “You’re coming with us.” 

And with that, she yanks him up until he stumbles on his legs. “What— Where are we going ?”

He can’t be more than twenty years old and she grits her teeth. “You’re going to take us to your people — the ones that  _ matter,”  _ she orders right by his ear as she pushes him forward so they can all walk behind him. “Don’t worry, we just want answers, we’re not going to hurt anyone.” He looks suspiciously around at his fallen camarades and she purses her lips. “Not as long as we’re not attacked,” she clarifies with another push to his back.

* * *

“You know I want to find them as much as you do—” At the glare he receives, he puts his hands up. “Okay, maybe not as much, but I really want to have Alex and my girlfriend back,” he corrects and Kara’s eyes lose the threatening glow they had — it’s new, this anger, and she doesn’t like it. “But I can’t do that.”

He looks sad, disappointed even, not being able to give her what she wants. “Why ?” But she doesn’t relent; she’s not known for giving up easily when it comes to her sister. 

Winn sighs as he smooths his thin tie against his chest. “It’s too dangerous.”

She waits. Waits for another,  _ better  _ reason why he wouldn’t help her — because there  _ has to be one _ — but none comes. “It’s too— Winn,  _ of course _ it’s dangerous, but that never stopped us before !” She’s getting more and more frustrated by the second and she struggles to keep her temper. “Winn,” she says, heavily dropping her hands on his shoulders and effectively cornering him with her strong arms. “Alex needs this. Which means…  _ I  _ need this. So, are you going to help or not ?”

She can see the wheels turning in his head, can see how his hesitation is cut in such a perfect half that she worries she might see smoke coming out of his ears soon. “I— I don’t…” He’s shaking his head but she knows him; it’s not a  _ no.  _

“Think about it,” she finally says, letting her arms fall at her side and releasing him. “But know this: I will go with or without you. It will only be quicker and safer with your help.”

And with that she’s gone with a forced smile, the sadness never properly hidden since Alex has been sent away. The only time she ever truly lets it out is when she’s alone at her apartment, shaking under Alex’s favorite blanket and the TV turned off. She can’t focus her hearing as well as she’d like when she’s like this, automatically searching for her sister’s heartbeat but coming up empty.   
She doesn’t look for it on purpose, knows she won’t find it, but it’s a reflex at this point and she can’t turn it off. She also knows it only worsens her mental state but she can’t help herself — it reminds her when she waits for Alex to come home so they can binge watch whatever Alex decided on that day.

There’s a knock on her door later that day and she grumpily goes to open the door. “Oh, hi.”

James smiles at her before scrunching his eyebrows together. “Are you sick or something ?” he asks because, really, she has a blanket around her and is in her PJ in the middle of the afternoon — and she bets her eyes are red from crying. “Did you lose your powers ?”

He sounds panicked and Kara quickly reassures him. “No, no, I’m fine. Just… Enjoying a day off, I guess.”

His concern is clear on his face and she lets him in, closing the door behind them. “Are you sure you’re okay ? You seem…” He trails off, not wanting to overstep, but looks at her with worry in his eyes.

“Sad,” she confirms with a dejected smile.

James is already nodding. “Alex.” Kara nods back. He walks up to her and hugs her, his warmth and presence immediately soothing Kara’s worst thoughts. “We’ll find her,” he promises in a whisper, tightening his hold before letting go. “We will,” he says again, firm and determined with his hands on the blonde’s shoulders.

“I know, I’m not going to let her wander alone in space for years…” She meant it to be hopeful and positive, but thoughts of the Phantom Zone still haunts her to this day and imagining Alex going through something similar… She shivers and wraps her arms around herself. “I’ll find her, whatever the cost.” If she can’t promise this to Alex, she does to herself. “Will you talk to Winn for me ? He’s still hesitating but we don’t have time.” She doesn’t get an answer and looks up to see James awkwardly shifting on his feet, looking away. “What ? What is it ?”

“Kara…” When he finally looks at her, his eyes are pleading for understanding and he steps closer — but Kara guesses where this is going and takes a step back.

“You agree with him.” She doesn’t have to ask, she can see it in his expression. “You guys don’t want to help me.” She feels not only lonely, but alone as well. She feels abandoned by her friends, abandoned by her sister — although she knows it wasn’t by choice.

His wavering expression hardens and he seems sure now. “We do !” he promise as he forces himself to stay where he is, not to reach out. “We do want to help you, Kara, how could we not ?” He sighs then, as he looks deeply into Kara’s eyes. “We lost Alex— whether she’s traceable or not… We don’t want to lose you too.”

She knows it’s humiliating, admitting this. She knows how hard he works to appear strong — to  _ be  _ strong, and how degrading it must be — for him — to own up to his fears. But, right now, it’s not what’s important. “Our feelings don’t matter here, James,” she snaps, muscles taut as if getting ready for a fight. “What matters is someone’s life—  _ Alex’s  _ life.”

James doesn’t back down though, and crosses his arms over his chest. “And what about  _ your  _ life ?”

Kara has to blink a few times before finding words that will actually make sense. “I— it doesn’t matter,” she stammers, her stance now shifty and unsure — because she knows she just lost the fight.

Looking at her with a look that says  _ see?,  _ her best friend looks understanding then. “Kara… Sending you to space with your old pod is way too dangerous. If we knew where she was…”

The hero puts her hand up and James stops talking. She purses her lips, tries not to snap again. “I don’t need you to come to my home to tell me you won’t help me. I need support and it’s not what you came here to give, so…” He’s frowning, clearly confused as to how wanting her to live was not supporting her, but he’s too shocked to interject. She passes him with three long strides and opens her door, standing to the side. “So you can go.”

James blinks so fast so many times she doesn’t think he can actually see anything. “Ka— You’re kicking me out ?”

She crosses her arms in a defensive manner and her expression hardens. “I have some planning to do.”

“You were wallowing right before I got there !” he accuses in an angry shout, echoing in the hallway. “Kara, you  _ know  _ I’m here for you, but what you’re asking is—”

“What I’m asking is exactly what I need and you’re not helping me, so… I’ll handle it on my own.” She uncrosses her arms and opens the door even wider.

The message is clear and James is obviously too frustrated and angry to stay and argue; so with one last look, he leaves without another word. She closes the door, gently — because she’s not  _ that  _ petty — once he’s gone and rests her back against it with a dejected look.   
She really believed she could count on James to help her, knows how eager he is to help in the small ways he can; but apparently not enough to put in danger a friend willing to risk her life. It upsets her the fact that he doesn’t respect her wishes just because of fear — he should know it means nothing to Kara at this point and, if he really loved her, he’d put his aside for her.

* * *

“Are you sure about this ?” Lyra asks in a whisper as Alex tightens her hold around the guard’s wrists, earning a pained grunt from him.

“No.” But she plows on and pushes him along as her allies follow closely behind her. “Where to now, Officer ?” she asks in a mocking tone.

But the soldier frowns at her as he stumbles forward. “Officer ? Please, I’m a member of the Military Guild. I’m a General, here.”

Alex stops dead in her tracks as she frowns, shuddering for an unknown reason. Something gnaws at her, something big, but she can’t put her finger on it — she needs to be focused on her task here, not be distracted by words that seem to distantly mean something to her.

“Whatever,  _ General.  _ Left or right ?” 

They’re facing an intersection and they all stopped, waiting for their hostage to tell them the right way. They’re inside now, less hot in there, and they’re following hallways of bland looking walls and have yet to see a door or a window.

He hesitates before straightening his spine with a determined look. “Right,” he answers firmly.

All of them start to walk then, before Alex stops them. “Wait.” She feels him freeze, tense under her hold, and she squints as she brings her face closer to his. “You do know there’ll be consequences if you’re lying, right ?” He clenches his jaw and squares his shoulders back, refusing to speak up. “Look, it’s nice being brave for your country and all that, but I’m not going to make  _ you  _ pay. You know that, right ?” She can see him falter, blinking rapidly and pursing his lips. “I’m going to take it out on anyone in our way, especially if you’re sending us where there are civilians.” 

She doesn’t mean it, of course, but has to make him believe that she does. The other aliens are holding their breaths, some waiting anxiously for his reply and others looking at Alex with fear and distrust — some with disgust. She can take it, doesn’t mind really if it means going home faster.   
Her reputation has never been the one on the line, not where you were living with a teenage girl who had to hide her alienness to the whole world; not when her sister is a Superhero with the whole world watching her every movement. Her reputation is not the one that matters.

The guard gulps, the tendon in his neck more pronounced now that his chest rises and falls rapidly with indecision. Finally, after what seems like hours have passed, he takes a deep breath and his eyes seriously gaze into Alex’s. “Do you promise not to hurt them ?”

And as seriously, Alex takes a step toward him and says, “I promise,” with a nod. “We wouldn’t have let any of you live if we were bad guys.”

That seems to push him even more toward a decision and he nods back. “Okay. Okay.” He looks around, watches the faces of the aliens surrounding him — sees the fear there, the uncertainty — and looks back at the brunette. “It’s through there,” he says, nodding with his head to his left.

The agent follows the motion and sees nothing but a wall. “Are you trying to pull a Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secret trick on us ?” she asks, eyes squinted and threatening stance with her fists on her hips.

For a couple of seconds, the man looks at her with a blank look. “What ?”

“You know, when they run… into the wall…” She shakes her head and passes her hand through her hair. “Never mind, you don’t know the movie. Why would you, you’re not from the same planet...” she whispers to herself, feeling her cheeks burn in embarrassment. She’d have to tell Kara just so she could put the blame on her sister’s unhealthy obsession for the franchise. She clears her throat and gains some confidence back when she straightens her spine and sees him falter under her glare. “The point being… Is it a trick ? There’s obviously nothing there,” she hisses as she points at the grey wall with her finger.

He shrinks just a tiny bit under her imposing presence but has the strength not to back down. He does furrow his eyebrows in confusion though, which makes Alex squints even harder. “What do you mean there’s nothing ? Obviously, the room is on the other side.” He shakes his head minutely like he can’t grasp what’s not to understand in his explanation.

Huffing, Alex throws her hands in the air.  _ “Obviously,”  _ she mutters, seething. “And how are we to go in, then, with a wall separating us ?”

She can see him glancing around, like he’s trying to gauge everyone else’s reactions and see if it’s a prank of some sort but comes up with nothing but other confused expressions. “Do you not… What do  _ you  _ do on your planet, then ?”

She purses her lips. “We use doors,  _ obviously,”  _ she snarls, already tired of the cultural difference. She grabs the fabric around his shoulder and pushes him toward the wall. “Show us how  _ you  _ do it, if you’re so advanced.”

She’d be way more curious and patient if the situation wasn’t so dire — granted, they weren’t in grave danger (yet), but who knew how her disappearance was being handled back on Earth ? The soldier mutters something under his breath — something that Alex would have punched him for if she’d heard it — and steps closer to the unassuming grey wall. She follows closely behind.

Nothing happens at first but, when he almost walks right into it, the obstacle seems to disappear to make way for an entrance. For a moment, no one breathe as they stare at this new, strange sight, taking everything in. It’s so different from everything Alex knows that she has to take a moment to get used to it — the smells, the scene, the warmth she suddenly feels.

But then, she doesn’t have all day; she has someone to get back to.

* * *

She might be sort of a genius, but there's a lot she hadn't yet learned on Krypton and even more she hadn't on Earth — she isn't up to date on science anymore, not enough to do what she needs to anyway. She rubs her forehead in frustration and mentally curses herself for not having paid more attention when Alex was working in her lab, content enough just to stand close to her sister.   
She sighs and lets her head fall on the table. How easy it would be if her brilliant favorite agent was by her side… But that’s exactly the problem. Alex isn’t by her side and, if she doesn’t do anything, she won’t be ever again — and that’s just not acceptable. 

She gets up with urgence, making everything on Alex’s table sway dangerously, and leaves the agent’s lab to find her target. He’s not hard to find, hunched on the desk in the hub, and she makes a quick beeline for him. She doesn’t acknowledge the other agents’ waves or friendly smiles, walking determinedly with a scowl on her face until she stops next to him.

She doesn’t pause or let him know she’s here before speaking up. “Winn, we need to talk.”

The man startles so hard his right arm jerks and sends a mug flying, crashing right against the wall. Every agents jump with their hands automatically on their weapons when the cup shatters into pieces across the floor, but quickly relax when they see Supergirl grimacing sheepishly while Winn glowers at her.

“Kara,” he gasps with a frown, still clutching at his heart, thumping painfully in his chest. “Warn me next time, yeah ?”

She does look apologetic and wriggles her fingers in front of her. “Sorry, Winn.” But her eyes are still hard, still determined. “But we need to talk.”

Winn nods, like he’s been expecting it, and gets up. Wordlessly, he starts walking and, as silently, Supergirl follows him. They don’t go far, just around the corner so they can have a bit of privacy, and Kara’s best friend turns to face her.

“Winn, I—”

But he cuts her off with a raised hand, gentle eyes looking at her. And even if it’s against her instinct, because there’s no time to waste anymore, she listens and closes her mouth shut. “I thought about it,” he says seriously, his expression grave and focused. “And… I know you. You’ll be flying right into space — because, really Kara, you can be such a jock sometimes.” He has a small smile now, his face softer, but doesn’t lose his resolve. “You know,” he mumbles when the blonde doesn’t even react to his comment. “Punching first, and asking questions second ?”

Supergirl is  _ not  _ impressed. “To the point, Winn,” she huffs.

“Right,” he whispers to himself, his spine straightening under Kara’s watchful and impatient gaze. “So, as I said, I’ve thought about it and… I’ll help you.”

And Kara feels like she can breathe again, even if there’s a weight still pressing down on her chest — on her heart, her lungs and every organ necessary to live. “Winn…” she breathes, her voice hoarse but grateful.

Again, he stops her. “At one condition,” he interrupts firmly, and Supergirl’s mouth closes with a  _ click.  _ He purses his lips to hide the smile that threatens to demean his seriousness and looks dead into blue eyes. “Okay, two,” he amends. “First,” he says, raising his index finger, “you need to listen to me.” The blonde looks ready to argue that she does listen to him, but he levels her with a glare as he says,  _ “Really  _ listen to me. Not until you think you know better than me or— or that your life is worth throwing away for something as stupid as impatience.” Her eyebrows are high on her forehead, too stunned to actually feel sheepish about how  _ right  _ Winn is — he takes the opportunity to keep listing his demands. “And second…”

He stares at her with intensity, like he’s trying to convey his last condition through his mind and, predictably, Kara loses patience. “Winn,  _ what ?”  _ she huffs, her hands resting on her hips to keep herself from crossing her arms or do something else — something reckless.

It doesn’t seem to shake him as he stays silent for a few seconds more before finally speaking up and revealing his last requisite. “Be careful.” It’s said with so much gravity and vulnerability that it takes the blonde aback.

She opens her mouth once, closes it and repeats the process three more times, her eyes blinking in sync. It’s so out of character for him to be this calm while asking something so big — something she can’t really promise because  _ of course  _ she’d give her life for Alex’s.

Eventually, she finds her voice again and solemnly nods. “I promise.” It’s not a lie, exactly, because she  _ is  _ going to be careful, she  _ does  _ want to spend the rest of Alex’s life at her side after all; what she doesn’t say though, and what Winn must know anyway, is that she’ll sacrifice her perfect future with her sister so that the most amazing person on this Earth can have hers.

* * *

In her astonishment, Alex may be grabbing her hostage a little too tightly by his collar; but she can’t help it. It’s all so… different.

It’s like everything she ever imagined on alien planets — and not the garbage they’ve been fed by the  _ Alien  _ movies — and everything she couldn’t ever have imagined at the same time. It’s nothing like she’s expected but it also looks so  _ right _ . It’s pleasant and inviting and, if she pays close attention, she can spot dim lights that seem to warm up the place.

The room is a circle, the walls and furniture a soft shade between white and grey; it’s soothing to look at, it feels like it calms her somehow. What’s pushed against the walls look like benches, or couches because it looks hard yet comfortable; between cosy and modern. It’s a nice mix, the perfect middle ground and Alex finds herself being drawn to it.   
There are people here, too, who haven’t yet noticed them and are murmuring to each other in low voices. The whole vibe screams  _ soft  _ and it’s impossible to not want to stay there and curl up with a warm blanket on your shoulders. She thinks of Kara, then, and how at home she’d feel here. 

And then it hits her. This place looks like what Kara describes when she talked about Krypton; about how  _ comfortable  _ she felt there, and how she tried to replicate that in her apartment — no luck there, unfortunately, as Earth doesn't have anything remotely resembling the feeling.    
Alex smiles at the memory, at the shy  _ “I only feel this way with you, nothing else comes even close to it.”  _ It was whispered, like a secret, as Kara clearly struggled to meet her eyes then, but it was genuine and heartfelt and Alex knew she'd remember this moment as clearly as if it just happened until the day she died. 

It had taken the shy blonde years to admit this to Alex, and the agent had retaliated by saying that, even though she was from this Earth and had always lived there, Kara was the one she truly felt at peace with — at home with. It had been accompanied by a hand squeeze and a blush, but it had been said and the brunette felt lighter after that.    
They had snuggled in silence on the couch after that, lazily watching reruns of old TV shows they loved as children. It's one of the happiest days in Alex’s life and the one she cherishes the most — she knows it’s also one of Kara’s, the blonde sometimes having this soft look in her eyes as she speaks of how grateful she is to have Alex in her life.

She’s pulled back in the present when the murmurs transform into gasps and shouts. “Intruder !” someone yells and Alex tenses once again, her grip around her hostage’s collar tightening automatically.

“I just want to talk !” she warns as soon as she can, although her request is drowned out by scared and confused screams. “Please !”

She figures that coming in with a hostage isn’t the best approach when you only want to discuss the possibility of asking for their help, but she didn’t really have a choice. Not when they’ve been attacked a few minutes after landing here — not after being thrown into space for nefarious reasons and, for her, betrayed by a long lost parent. Not after seeing her sister almost dying from trying to stop it from happening.

“Someone call the Head of the Council !” a man calls out, stumbling and almost falling face first as he hurries out. So brave.

“Please,” the man held firmly between her tight grip gasps, hands raised. “Hear her out !”

She doesn’t know if it’s out of fear or sympathy, but she doesn’t care — she’ll use it. “Yeah, you really should listen to your pal here,” she adds, her face tight and lips almost blue as she forgets to breathe.

There aren’t as many people as when they came in, but she doesn’t mind; even though she knows most of them most likely went to alert the authorities. They look like the most important ones and that’s all that matters for now.

“What do you want ?” someone asks, standing before the few remaining — his voice is tight, like if she makes a sudden move, he’ll crumble on the floor. 

Alex and her hostage are on the opening’s side, and all of the others are on the opposite side of the room. The man who just spoke sounds like a leader, protecting the three people who stayed with a defensive stance — not as in ready to fight, but standing tall and shoulders pushed back; ready to defend, at least.

She matches his intensity, although with a lot more self-confidence in her abilities than he obviously has, and glares at him. She doesn’t mean to, she respects him — to a degree; but she’s used to having to affirm her place, her importance in a room.    
She  _ is  _ a woman in law enforcement, after all. She hasn’t had to do it for some time, thanks to J’onn, but it’s still present in her daily life. Although, now that she’s high in rank and has proven her worth ten times over, the men who know her don’t challenge her like they used to.

“I just need your help getting home,” she declares and, even though she commands respect, her voice still has that shaky quality it usually has when she’s unsure, when she’s  _ asking  _ for something.

His rigid posture doesn’t relax and his eyes harden even more. “Why should we help you when you invaded our home ?” he snarls, the people behind him nodding their assent. “And took hostages.” He angrily points at her, at the man she’s currently forcing to stay still against her. “And, I’m guessing, you left dead bodies in your path,” he growls through his teeth, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Alex’s eyebrows furrow so hard her head hurts at the implication — the  _ thought  _ that she’d kill people, people who didn’t even try to kill her. She knows they don’t know her, but still. “I haven’t killed anyone,” she gruffly refutes and then nudges the guard with her shoulder. “Tell them.”

The soldier, almost on his toes because of how tight her hold around his neck is, does his best to nod. “It’s true, they— they defended themselves but no one killed—”

“That’s enough,” she hisses, pulling on his shirt so it’d push against his throat and he’d stop talking. Frankly, she knew it was a long shot, hiding the other aliens who came with her, but she’d hoped they’d last longer.

“We  _ knew  _ you weren’t alone,” the man across from them he gnarls, trembling in fury.

She observes him, wondering what she can do to make him believe her, to make him relax just long enough for her to explain. They’re very defensive, very quick to judge and accuse, and she thinks there might be some story here.   
The room is silent, save for the angry breathing from the man and short breaths coming from the soldier she holds against her. She takes the time to look around, maybe find something to help — she has to idea what in the world could help her, but she’s getting pretty desperate. 

It doesn’t last though, and she can’t keep observing the room because an alarm blares loudly and, just as suddenly as when an opening appeared in the wall, she is surrounded. Ever so stubborn, Alex keeps tight grip around the man’s clothes as she watches more guards running toward them. Surprisingly, they’re only armed with batons and armors, like the soldiers who attacked them earlier.

“Don’t—” She reins her hostage in, pulling him closer to her as he tries to escape. “Don’t move.” The baton she stole from an unconscious guard presses against his throat and he stills immediately against her body. She’s getting tired and frustrated by how much time this is taking, by the less than warm welcome they received, and she’s at the end of her patience. “Just bring me your leader !” she screams, loud enough to be heard over the alarms and the dozens of bodies separating her from the man she’s been just talking to.

“Let me through,” a soft voice rings, and Alex is surprised she even heard her. The room falls silent and the armed guards leave a path wide enough for the person who just spoke to walk through. When the figure appears, the soldiers leaving a respectable distance between them, Alex also falls silent — she stops talking, stop breathing, she thinks her heart stops beating as well. “Who are you ?”

But the DEO agent doesn’t have the words, can’t speak around the tightness in her throat. Because, even if this is her first time on this unknown planet, she definitely knows this face.

* * *

“What are you doing ?”

Kara doesn’t move, doesn’t turn her head — she knows that voice. She’s on the balcony at CatCo, eyes closed and surrounded by the night sky. “Listening for her,” she says, still focusing her super-hearing on the heartbeat that’s so familiar to her; so in tune with her own she almost can’t tell them apart anymore. “But I can’t hear anything,” she breathes out, her misty eyes slowly opening and looking into the sky — as if she’ll be able to see far enough into space.

She hears James shuffling next to her until his arm touches hers in silent support. They stay like that for a while, just enjoying the quiet evening, until he softly speaks. “Winn is still working on it, he’ll call when it’s done.”

Tightening her hold on the rail before her but not enough to break it, Kara nods as she lets out a slow breath. “I know.” It’s only a whisper, a futile hope that speaking quietly will help her hear better.

Silence settles quickly between them, a quiet tension, and Kara can’t find the soft comfort she used to feel when near him. She doesn’t feel what she used to feel for him since the first time she saw him, her mind and body too taken by her concern for Alex.   
She knows that, normally, she’d turn to him and apologize for the way she acted earlier — apologize for throwing him out when he was just worried about her. But she knows that it’s not going to happen now, that, somehow, losing Alex like that changed her. She knows what her purpose is and she’ll throw anyone out who stands in her way.

James must sense that he’s not going to get the apology he’s been waiting for if he doesn’t speak first, so he straightens up next to the blonde. “Kara, about earlier—”

“I’m not going to apologize,” she warns without looking at him, although her frame is tense now and her hands are clapped together, no longer threatening to shatter the railing.

Something between a chuckle and a scoff falls from James, his expression betraying the borderline offense he’s feeling. “Well,” he breathes, frowning. “You threw me out.”

It’s an excellent point, in his opinion, and he’s expecting Kara to see that she was wrong; to admit it. But she slowly nod, eyes still fixed on a spot in the sky. “I did.”

“Kara…” His tone is getting a bit too condescending for Kara’s taste, but she keeps straining her hearing past his words and the sound of the wind and the atmosphere. Still nothing. “You  _ kicked me out,”  _ he says, as if she hadn’t realized what she had done. “I was just trying to protect you.” As if it excused anything.

She holds off a sigh and faces him, keeping an arm on the metal rod to keep herself grounded; to keep herself from forgetting where she is in the moment, to stay in the present so she doesn’t lose herself in her mind, surrounded by darkness and cold — like Alex might be.

“Listen,” she says, her voice firm and James seems to tense in response. “You intention doesn’t matter here.  _ My  _ intention doesn’t matter.” He looks at her, eyebrows furrowed, and she sees he doesn’t follow. “None of our intentions matter, don’t you get it ? Only the result does. Only bringing Alex home matters.” Her gaze doesn’t waver, she’s standing still and owns her words — her actions.

A flash of understanding flashes through his features and his face hardens. “So, what ? Nothing matters until we find her ?” Anger bleeds through his voice, his words, and his fists shake at his side. “And what if we don’t find her, what then ?” he asks, eyebrows raised as if it didn’t occur to Kara, as if he was the only one — the first one — to think of this possibility. 

“This isn’t an option,” she retorts, now withdrawing as she leans back and puts the rest of her walls back up. “I bring her home or  _ nothing.”  _

His frustration is clear in his pursed lips and dark pupils, in the way his jaw works and how his hand closes tightly around the railing. “What does  _ nothing  _ means ?” His voice is a bit shaky around the edges, less sure and more accusatory than ever.

Kara hides a flinch, does her best to stay rigid and confident when she feels she’s just been ripped open. She raises her chin defiantly and her hands find her hips in an old comfort, an old habit she picked from Alex. “It means… It means that not bringing her home— not finding her won’t happen.”

But James isn’t stupid and he pushes through, pushes Kara’s defenses back as he takes a step forward. “But what if it does ?”

“James—”

“What if you don’t find her ?” he asks again, his face like stone but his eyes an ocean of uncertainty and, already, sadness.

“It’s not going to happen !” she defends, her nails painfully digging into her skin, her only comfort an image of Alex cleaning the cuts and putting bandaids with animals on them for her.

Still, the man doesn’t relent. “It can ! It’s a possibility ! And what then ?” Kara’s chest is tight, too tight, securely keeping what she doesn’t want to word inside of her. “Tell me.” His voice is firmer now, but his face betrays his worry — like he’s steeling himself for the answer.

She gulps but meets his eyes, still stands her ground and her right hand finds the railing again in an attempt to anchor herself. “James,” she slowly enunciates, her tone careful. “Let it go.”

“Kara,” he scoffs, looking at her like she’s just told him she was giving up on finding her own sister. “You think I don’t get it ? You think—”

“Stop it,” she growls. She knows it’s not her, knows she’s not herself right now, barely keeping her anger and grief in check, but the only person who could help isn’t here — isn’t even on the same Earth right now.

“You think I don’t know how it feels to not have any other choice ?” he continues, the lines on his face deepening in old regret and sorrow. “You—”

“Won’t ever stop looking !” she shouts, her control finally sleeping and metal grating under her fingers. “It’s either we both come home, or neither of us do !” It’s an old echo of what Alex had said once, during a time where Kara was trapped in a perfect world — until her sister came crashing her fantasy and made her realize Krypton wasn’t so perfect if she wasn’t in it.

Silence falls over them, only broken by Kara’s heaving breathing, her chest rising and falling quickly. James is looking at her with horror, like she just confirmed his worst suspicions. Unconsciously, Kara is relieved that they’re here this late because the floor is deserted so no one heard her scream or heard her bend a metal railing with her bare hand.   
His own breathing is shaky, his eyes misty as the truth is finally out and Kara looks unapologetic in her own personal storm. She knows he guessed before she exploded, knows she hasn’t been exactly subtil with her feelings; or her actions. She also knows she won’t let it stop her, or even slow her down.

Her muscular friend opens his mouth but Kara raises a hand, effectively stopping him as he nods with softness in his eyes. His movements are deliberately slow, his arms inching toward her dejected frame and, when her shoulders slump and her head hangs low, he doesn’t stop himself anymore. She’s wrapped up in a warm, comforting embrace and she takes comfort in his friendship, in his understanding.   
She knows it doesn’t fix everything — or anything, really — but it helps. Knowing that, no matter what she’s planning, James is going to be there for her whether he agrees or not. It’s more than she hoped for, after closing the door to his face the last time, and she’s grateful that she’s not completely alone — she just feels like she is.

“It’s okay,” he whispers in his low voice, and Kara can feel the trembling of his chest as her ear is pressed against it. “We’ll find her.”

She knows it’s just an empty promise, knows they have no idea if they even can get the thing to work so she can go and find her sister, but she takes it. She takes the soft, automatic words, takes the hold that’s too loose around her body and his presence — warm and comforting and yet, not enough.

After a minute, the hug lingering more for his sake than for hers, she lets go and she can see him searching her eyes; knows he’s looking for tears, for something she can’t give him — not yet; not when all of her focus is channeled on one thing only.  _ Alex.  _

She’s about to thank him, empty words again, but her phone rings and the next second she’s listening to a man’s voice.

_ “It’s ready. I— I think.”  _

Winn’s voice is nervous, but she knows him. She knows it’s not because he’s actually unsure about his skills, but because he’s so afraid for her life that he’s never going to be sure enough to be confident about this.

She hangs up, doesn’t bother replying, and because he’s been there for her, she spares seconds to inform James. “Winn says it’s ready. I’m going to the DEO.”

James is about to speak, about to ask her to take him with her — it’d be faster this way, and he’d be able to be with her and protect her before she could leave him. But she’s gone before she finishes saying the last word, leaving him unsteady behind her. He thinks it might be on purpose, leaving the man who’s holding her the most back behind.

* * *

“No,” Alex breathes out, her eyes wide and limbs weak. She’s so shaken up that she doesn’t feel her hostage taking flight, lowering himself so he isn’t between her arms anymore, and running toward the guards. “No, it can’t— that’s not…”

In a second, she’s on her knees with her arms behind her back, her wrists tied together in a tight — and painful, if she could actually feel it — hold. She doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on around her, can’t, as her eyes stare at a familiar face. And, frankly, it makes her sick to her stomach because that face is one she sees in most of her nightmares; if not every one of them.

She can feel herself shake her head, can feel her fingertips tingling and her face numb. Knows she’s in shock, and is only brought back in the present when her face violently meets the floor as a guard holds her down with a knee pressing painfully between her shoulder blades.   
She blinks, shame lightly warming her face when she feels a single tear rolling down her cheek. She ignores it though, and strains her face on the side, pressing even more forcefully on her cheekbone — knows it’ll leave a bruise — just so she can still eye the woman standing before her.

Her stance is straight, noble and commanding respect as she looks back at Alex with a curious look. “Who are you ?” she asks again, her gaze intense and piercing through the brunette’s defenses — not that she has any left after seeing this woman. And Alex, she tries. She tries speaking and asking her own question, but it comes out strangled and she doesn’t have the strength to try again. “Answer me, invader,” the woman orders, her voice harder and guards straightening automatically next to her.

“I’m—” She has to clear her throat and, this time, it works more or less. “Alex,” the agent croaks out. She knows that’s not exactly what she’s asking, but that’s all she can give for now.

And the voice… The voice is so similar, strikingly so, and it sends shivers down her spine; and it feels like a whole knife is going through her heart. She hears asked questions, growing louder and more frustrated by the second, but her mind is reeling and can only focus on the face she can see.

Distantly, she hears muffled words that she knows belong to the woman whose features are so overwhelming familiar that her head is spinning.

Then, she’s being dragged away, can’t even worry about the aliens she was trying to protect earlier, and follows the woman with her eyes until she’s out of the room, until all she can focus on is her memories; and clamping down her urge to throw up.   
She doesn’t even look around, doesn’t notice the large hallways and invisible doors that disappear once far enough. She only lets herself being moved through stairs that lead underground, the walls becoming less inviting and more damp somehow. She shudders as they reach the end of the staircase, and she’s thrown into a large, cold room.

She stays on her back as a door closes with a clinging sound and, when she gets enough strength to look, she notices that the door looks ridiculously close to a prison one. Well, if it wasn’t white and made of glass which, she guesses, won’t break even if she uses all of her force.

She sighs and lets her head fall back on the ground with only one thought going around her head on repeat :  _ “What the hell ?”  _

* * *

She arrives so suddenly that he can’t avoid the accident. It’s thrown all the way across the room and no one is fast enough to stop it — not even Supergirl. In the second before it explodes, she has time to grimace though, hunched in anticipation of her friend’s scolding. After the inevitable, after glass blows up everywhere, there’s a long second of silence before Winn turns in his chair. 

_ “Again ?!”  _ he accuses with an angry scowl, his pinched face flushed as he scowls at Kara. “And that was a new one !” The last part is more of a whine but still the truth and, for the second time in a week, the blonde superhero looks sheepish inside the DEO walls.

“I’m sorry ?” But Winn doesn’t look impressed and huffs as he crosses his arms. “I’ll buy you a new one,” she offers, hopeful and truly apologetic.

“Fine,” he grumbles, turning back around to face his computer. “We have more pressing problems anyway.”

And just like that, she’s back to being grave and focused, her cheek almost touching his when she leans in to see his screen. “What’s the issue ?”

He flinches when he hears her voice so close but stamps down his instinct to send another thing flying across another wall — hadn’t he lost enough ? “It’s not a problem per say,” he amends, stopping his quick fingers typing on the keyboard to face Kara. 

The blonde sighs, straightens up and puts her hands on her hips; she might not be in her suit but she still looks like the strongest person on Earth if she wants to. “Out with it.”

“Right.” He stands and starts walking, Kara automatically following him closely. “You’ll see soon enough,” he says, a mysterious grin badly hidden by his fidgeting fingers.

Kara is concerned — usually, Winn having a secret or trying to surprise someone never ends well. “Alright…” she whispers worriedly.

She continues to follow him as he turns around corners, opens doors and enters security codes for some of them. She’s honest to Rao lost in the DEO right now, her only compass a best friend who won’t say a thing, and she wonders how she could have missed such a big part of the base — she knows how, one unopened door can lead to dozens of others and can hide a hundred more.   
Finally, they seem to reach their destination as Winn enters one final entry code for a door that looks thicker than the others. She tries to cheat but she can’t see through it and, if Winn’s smirk is any indication, he guessed she’d try.

“Come on,” he says, almost giddy. “Let me show you.”

That seems to sober her up, remembering that, even though her best friend looks happy, he did say there was a problem. She can’t trust Winn’s feelings because he often gets excited when most people would groan in frustration, so she sets her expectation back to :  _ very low.  _

Slowly and dramatically, he opens the door while staying on the side so Kara can have a full view of the room. She doesn’t pause, doesn’t play the excited girl like she knows Winn would want; she’s here to help so she can finally go save her sister.

“Tell me what to do,” she orders, her tone maybe a bit too firm that she’d like. 

It does have the effect counted on and Winn hurries at her side, leading her to the end of the room. It takes a minute because the room is very large —  _ several apartments large _ . It’s cold and grey and dark but it seems secure enough to accommodate highly classified projects and weapons; thin, long lights light up as they pass under them, brightening the room just enough to have an idea where they’re going.   
She doesn’t have to wonder long why they’re here as they stop before the object she’s been wanting to use from the start. Alex had used it, damn well, and now it’s Kara’s turn — the irony isn’t lost on her that the roles are reversed on this one.

He stands next to it and fidgets with his hands, but he sports a big smile. “There’s nothing to do,” he proudly announces. “Well,” he amends quickly, “there is, actually. You can…” He pauses long enough to put his hand on top of it and softly taps on it. “Go save your sister.”

She stops breathing long enough to feel it in her lungs and, the next second, she’s got her arms wrapped around Winn. “Thank you,” she breathes out next to his ear, tightening her hold just a bit before letting go. “Thank you, Winn. Really.” She hopes her gratefulness is clear enough in her shiny eyes and wobbly lips because she doesn’t think she has the right words to express just how happy and relieved she is.

He gulps noisily and meets her eyes with his own misty ones. “No prob’,” he whispers back, not trusting his voice as he squeezes her shoulder.

She turns to look at her pod, proudly laying on the cold ground, all battered but experienced — and, with Winn ? Secure.  _ I’m coming, Alex,  _ she thinks, but her excitement quickly makes way for dread and worry. James’ words swirl around in her mind even as she tries to stay focused on her task.

Shaking the worse thoughts out of her head, she softly lets her fingers brush the Kryptonian spaceship as she speaks. “What about J’onn ? Is he okay with this ?”

Winn nervously fiddles with his tie but meets Kara’s eyes with his own. “Actually,” he murmurs, uneasy, “there’s a reason why it’s down here.”

The blonde nods. “He doesn’t approve.” She guessed as much when Winn didn’t offer to go fetch the Martian before bringing her here.

Her best friend shrugs, like it’s nothing much, but he’s tense. “That’s the thing... Let’s just say he has more things in common with James than we thought.” Supergirl, although in her street clothes, sighs and rubs her forehead tiredly. “Don’t worry,” Winn says with a reassuring smile. “I’ll deal with him. It’s my problem, not yours.”

Kara is a bit taken aback because the tech genius usually isn’t one to put himself in the line of J’onn’s line of fire but, when she thinks about it, it’s not so surprising. After all, the woman he thinks as a sister and the woman who he might be in love with are stranded into space. “Are you sure ?” she still asks because she doesn’t want to leave mayhem behind her when she goes.

Nodding readily, Winn waves her concerns away nonchalantly. “Yeah, I got him.” And he winks. Winn actually winks and it’s enough to relieve some of the weight on Kara’s chest.

She lets out a breathless chuckle and says, “Okay then,” before pushing the pod’s door with a click. A second later, the same door slowly lifts until it’s wide enough for a person to enter.

“Wait,” Winn suddenly blurts out as he reaches out, his hand closing on the blonde’s forearm. “You’re leaving now ?”

Kara almost frowns, almost asks him why wouldn’t she leave as soon as she can, but her expression is understanding. She’d be scared for him too if he were about to leave the atmosphere. “It’s going to be okay,” she reassures him softly, putting her own hand on Winn’s. “You’ll see. And before you know it, we’ll both be back.” It’s a flimsy promise but she takes it to heart nonetheless — she means it.

The tight grip around the hero’s arm relaxes until Winn breathes again, letting out a shaky sigh. “Okay,” he whispers, mostly to himself. “Okay.” He nods solemnly, maybe to show Kara he’s taking her words seriously and she should as well. “You better,” he warns her then, a grave look on his face. “You still owe me a mug.” He pauses. “Or two.”

Her smile is crooked, half-assed at best, but that’s all she can muster when looking at the hope in her best friend’s eyes. “When I get back, you’ll have enough mugs to send one flying across the DEO every day,” she promises, her hand squeezing his before letting go.

He nods and she takes a deep breath before facing her pod once again. Easily, she slips inside and tries not to panic as decades of memories mixed with years of nightmares flood her brain — and her heart, suddenly feeling too tight in her chest, her lungs too small. Jaw clenched, knuckles white as her hands turn into fists, she turns to face Winn when he leans in, supporting his weight on his forearm pressing on the open door.

“I already put the coordinates in, you just have to… sit back and enjoy the show.” She nods tensely, her face pinched in anxious lines. “As I’ve explained, I calculated the trajectory of the exodus ship, following your heat signature until you had no choice but to let it go.” Kara purses her lips at the memory, her strength too little in the face of the heaviest spaceship she’s ever encountered. “It’s not a hundred percent sure, remember ? I could send you completely in the wrong direction if I’ve made the tiniest mistake, you—”

“Winn,” she quickly interrupts him, her tone maybe a bit too harsh but necessary. “I trust you,” she simply says, and the sudden softness in her voice is enough to soothe Winn’s stressful gnawing of his lower lip.

The man nods quickly, trying to convince himself, and lets out a heavy breath. “Okay, yeah. I’ve kept Catco website running for years, a little trajectory-based dynamic programming to send an old Kryptonian pod into space is a piece of cake, right ?” His chuckle is forced and nervous but the blonde can see he’s using humor to  _ chillax  _ as he’s once put it. Kara smiles courageously at him and his shoulders loosen. “Anyway,” he says, shaking his head as he focuses back on the task ahead. “I also put the DEO coordinates so you can easily come back here with just the push of a button.”

Kara nods, knowing what he’s talking about. “Yeah, it’s there, right ?” she asks as she enters a series of numbers and Kryptonian letters into the console. It shows two locations and she easily recognizes the one belonging to Earth.

Winn looks impressed and bows his head. “Yes, ô grand scientist.”

The chuckle she lets out sounds fake even to her ears and wants to hurry out of here. “I know a thing or two,” she concedes, not admitting to knowing way more than that. 

Spending a couple of decades slipping in and out of consciousness, leaving her with nothing to do but explore the tiny cage she’s trapped in does help in knowing the ins and outs of the pod. She doesn’t mention that the idea of spending more than a few minutes in it makes her skin crawl because it doesn’t matter. What she said to James is true — the only thing that matters is bringing Alex home.

The silence stretches and Winn’s smile becomes more and more forced, his eyes losing the hopeful glint to give way to dread and hesitation. “Are you sure—”

_ “Winn.”  _ Her tone is harsh but it does what it meant to.

Schott Junior straightens and, with his muscles taut and his jaw working, he nods at the veiled warning. “Right. Well… Have a safe trip.” He shifts on his feet, fingers wiggling together and it makes Kara smile.

“Come here,” she murmurs, a smile in her voice as she stretches a hand so she can give a side hug to her best friend.

Even if the position is awkward, his buries his face into her hair and his muffled voice rings next to her ear. “Be careful out there, okay ?” He knows he doesn’t have to tell her, but sometimes she can forget to think about herself — about  _ her  _ safety.

Her head shakes against his as she nods, her arm shaking as she tries to keep herself from tightening her hold. “I promise,” she whispers back.

After a moment that seems too short, he leans back and clears his throat, his eyes red and shimmery. “Well,” he croaks out with a half-grin. “Off you go, then.”

And with one last look, he carefully closes the door until Kara’s face is barely visible through the badly scratched glass; it’s been through a lot and changing it hasn’t been Winn’s priority. The superhero smiles at him but it’s dimmed on the edges by something sharper — purpose and courage, he thinks.

She waves, pushes a button and then she’s gone.

* * *

She spends enough time here to know it’s not usually used. For anyone. She doesn’t think the atmosphere allows it, but she’s sure there would have been spiderwebs everywhere it she were on Earth. The dampness is getting to her, her childhood home warm and dry so close to the beach, and she longs for something to isolate her body from the cold, hard ground.   
She also notices the lack of guards. She isn’t sure if this is a direct result of never using this place so much that they actually forgot it even exists, or a technique to make her sweat — although she already is because of the freaking humidity. She sighs in frustration once it becomes clear that she’ll learn nothing about this place if she’s stuck in this cell.

“Can I at least have a glass of water ?” she calls out loudly, her words echoing against the grey walls until the sound dies, leaving her alone with her thoughts once again. And, right now, her mind is not really inviting on this front.

Coincidentally, footsteps echo in the staircase right at this moment and Alex tense in response. The next second, she has her face pressed against the glass as she tries to look who’s coming; it sounds like the entire guard is running to her and she feels like it’s her death sentence arriving.   
Instinct takes over fear and she walks backward until her back touches the wall on the opposite side of the door, waiting for her enemies to come for her; she’s be ready to fight back. Muscles taut and fists at her side, she waits as she listens to the noise becoming louder and louder — it’s surrounded by silence, no voice heard above the sound of the footsteps.

Her heartbeat is too quick in her chest, pounding painfully as her ears start ringing — what can she do against an army sent for her death ? But as they get closer, Alex frowns at herself because it doesn’t sound like a trained army of soldiers; it sounds like schoolboys hurrying to go to the cafeteria at lunch — rushed and disorganized. It makes her falter, her raised fists lowering just a bit as she looks straight ahead.

She’s seen a lot of things during her career — and childhood shared with a super powered alien, but she has to say she’s dumbfounded by the sight before her.

The guard she knocked out before taking him hostage is standing in front of her cell, sweaty and bruised as he breathes heavily. Before she can think about it, she’s rushed closer to the glass and can now see all of the other aliens who came with her earlier. They all look scared but otherwise healthy.   
She can’t keep studying them as her cell door suddenly opens and she automatically jumps back, her hand reflexively going to her holster — which she  _ doesn’t  _ have. The guard looks at her with impatience as his gaze goes back every few seconds on the way they just came from.

“Well, come on !” he urges her with a motion of his hand, waving her outside of her cell. “We don’t have all day !” He keeps his voice low and the urgency in his tone tells Alex he’s not supposed to be here. The first thing her mind screams at her is  _ trap !  _

Staying where she is, suspicious, Alex crosses her arms and squints her eyes at the man. “What are you doing ?” She eyes the other aliens behind him but they’re too busy watching their backs to pay attention to her.

He gives a slight shake of his head, as if her suspicion is  _ clearly  _ misplaced and he can’t fathom why she doesn’t trust her. “Getting you out of here,” he says, like it’s obvious and perfectly normal after their interactions.

That’s not enough for Alex, though.  _ “Why ?”  _ she asks, skepticism dripping into her voice.

“Now is not the time for questions,” he says in an exasperated tone, but sighs, resigned, when he sees that Alex won’t budge without an answer. “I have yet to see a single alien set free after being locked up,” he admits with a scowl, his eyes full of anger and regret. “They believe that they’re the superior race, that foreigners don’t have their place here.” He looks at her with an intensity that makes the agent wants to take a step back. “I disagree. Most of them never left, but I have. I’ve traveled—” Alex tenses, her fingers twitching — she hopes he’s not going to be as insufferable about his travels as Irgto because she won’t be accountable for her actions if he is, “— enough to know that it’s not true. We might not all be equal, but it doesn’t give us the right to imprison others for being born on another planet.” 

She rocks back on her heels at that, not having expected this  _ at all  _ from the young man. She hums thoughtfully and decides that, all things considered, she’s not going to have a better chance to get out of here if she tried on her own. 

Also, he seems like a good man and she kind of likes him. “Okay then, General.”

“Tovig,” the man says over his shoulder as he starts to walk away, leading them in the opposite direction from the stairs.

“What ?”

He slows down enough to walk next to her so he can keep his voice low but still be heard. “Tovig. That is my name.”

“Oh.” She didn’t expect him to introduce himself but she supposes she might need to know the name of her savior. “Alex.”

“I know,” he almost scoffs and it makes sense, the others might have told him when they all went to rescue her. She shakes her head, trying not to think of the number of people putting themselves in harm's way just to help her.

After walking for what seems like hours, they finally reach the end of the long and narrow hallway; they had to go one by one, walk slowly and stay quiet. There’s no light anywhere but, when Tovig gets closer to the unassuming wall, it opens and they finally can see the outside.   
Even if it’s really warm outside, it’s still better than the cold and dampness of the underground prison she had to stay in. Alex welcomes the warmth and sweat, closes her eyes at the sun and takes a deep breath in, slowly letting it out.

“Thank you,” she murmurs to the guard, gratefulness clear in her eyes and in the way they twinkle against the red light from the sun.

She thinks of Kara and her love for Krypton’s red dwarf, Rao, and how she’d like to bring her sister here just so she can bask under the rays that reminds her so much of the stories the blonde told her about their adored deity. Well, maybe not  _ this  _ unfriendly planet, but a close one with the same calming red light.

“Thank me when you’re safely back on your planet,” he grumbles as he leads every alien one by one out of the hallway, staying to make sure it closes behind them before walking again. “Don’t make any noise,” he warns in a whisper but Alex feels that he didn’t really have to — the others are too terrified to make a peep. 

And so they walk up a path leading them out of the dark where the exit of the underground was toward a brighter,  _ warmer  _ place. They’re not in the inhabited part of the city, that much is clear when they can walk without meeting a single person on their way, and Alex sighs in relief each time they pass a corner to see another empty street.   
It’s brighter than where they were, but it’s darker than where they landed. It’s an odd in between and the agent wonders if the city is as abandoned and broken as it is here. There are fallen rocks and destroyed residences, old edifices on the bridge of collapsing and not another living soul in sight.

It’s deserted and it unsettles the Danvers woman. Still, she marches on, paying attention to their surroundings so she can keep everyone say — or  _ try  _ to, because it worked so well the first time.

As they walk under the burning red sun, she picks up the pace once Tovig assured her they wouldn’t be caught so she can talk to Irgto. “So, what happened ?” she asks, her voice low but still scary enough for the man to flinch away at the sudden sound.

“Jeez,” he mumbles with his hand clutching at his chest; it’s lower than humans’, more toward their liver would be. “He saved us.” There’s so much gratitude in his timbre, and he glances back at the guard with a soft expression. “They were going to take us as well, but he volunteered in his fellow’s place. Unfortunately, he wasn’t to accompany us alone for his security, so someone still came along.” He blinks at the memory, gulping. “He waited for us to be out of the room before knocking the other down — he still received some blows, mind you, but he held his own.” Alex listens carefully, now the reason behind his wounds clearer, and she has a small grin on her face — she isn’t surprised, thinks he would have given her a run for her money if she hadn’t taken him by surprise earlier.

She hums thoughtfully. “And then you came to get me out ? Aw, you shouldn’t have,” she deadpans, teasing in her tone and in the ghost of a smirk.

Irgto stutters with an annoyed scowl, his hands immediately raising to put his collar straight; as if it matters when it’s full of holes and dirt and blood. “It— That wasn’t my idea, mind you,” he stammers.

Alex holds off a chuckle and hums again, has learned that it annoyed him when she did that. She likes annoying him. 

With a huff, he stomps his foot down before speeding up and catching up to the top of their group. The agent lets herself laugh at that, but it quickly stops when she realizes it makes her think of Kara and her moods when she first arrived. 

The start was rough, for a lot of reasons. Grief was the biggest one. Adaptation was the logical second place and both combined resulted in a Kara who could go from hot to cold in less than a second —  _ “faster than any human !”  _ Alex would say in an anchor’s voice, teasing her about some kind of new record. It didn’t take until they became closer, though.

Most of the time, she would stump her foot down when Alex made fun of her appetite or her weight; the Danvers kept a close and detailed journal about Kara’s abilities and differences, just in case. Her weight was —  _ is  _ — higher because she has a greater molecular weight than normal humans. Of course, teenage Alex would make the most of this information and tease her relentlessly about it.    
She quickly stopped after the first time Kara didn’t ask for seconds and admitted in an embarrassed grumble that it was just a joke and that she should eat as much as she wanted. The blonde hadn’t really reacted then, but ate at her heart’s content at the next meal with a peaceful expression on her face.

Alex is gloomy from thinking about her sister, even the bad days, and she forlornly kicks a rock as she keeps her eyes down. She spends the rest of the walk like that, giving off  _ leave me alone  _ vibes to anyone near her as she lets Tovig lead everyone back to safety.

The fact that they didn’t get the help they needed to get back home isn’t lost on her, wonders what they’re going to do once back to the ship when they left with the promise of a solution. Maybe with their helper’s help, they can move the ship enough to stay unnoticed until they figure out a solution; surely a spaceship that big and this modern has a way to find planets coordinates.

After a long hour walk, they  _ finally  _ reach the Exodus ship. A few run toward it, rushing to their loved ones and somewhere to sit, but Alex stops dead in her tracks. It’s quiet, too quiet when the ship is full of children. She can’t stop the others because they’re too far, but a few who were behind her stop as well and Tovig quickly catches up to her, already on alert.

“What is it ?” he asks, looking around for any kind of threat.

She shakes her head without a word because she can’t put her finger on it. It’s something she senses, something that makes goosebumps appear on her arms and makes the hair on the neck stand. She’s weary, looks all around them with bent legs, ready to attack.

Tense, she gets ready for the unpredictable but still doesn’t see it coming; she comes out of nowhere. One moment she’s standing next to Tovig, waiting for a potential attack, and the next her back hits the ground so hard she’s breathless.

“Alex !” Kara shrieks in her arms, her face buried in her neck as she lets the tears roll down on the brunette’s skin. 

The next second, Alex hugs her back just as fiercely with all of her strength. “Kara,” she croaks out, the familiar scent and feeling immediately relaxing her — even though her Kryptonian warmth is gone, she’s still so  _ Kara.  _ “You found me.” And she can’t believe it, she actually tracked her down light years away.

“Always,” is shakily whispered against her neck, and the agent shivers at the contact, at the word, at Kara’s body and presence — just at Kara. And it’s everything.

She’s home.


End file.
